Stink bugs are coming (again)! In fact, they’re already here, and the government is searching for ways to wipe out the little stinkers.

An army of stink bugs has marched into 38 states, and the federal government is scrambling to find ammunition to take them down.

Brown marmorated stink bugs, a Chinese import, are invading homes, orchards, and vineyards; eating fruit, buzzing overhead, and staying warm until they can emerge and lay eggs in spring.

If last year’s stink bug invasion wasn’t bad enough, this fall’s invasion is the second one this year — which presages an even bigger onslaught in 2013, says Tracy Leskey, an Agriculture Department entomologist.

Entomologists are deep into R&D to find ways to wipe out the stink bug. Front-runners include baited traps and natural stink bug enemies, such as the wheel bug, a bug assassin that injects a paralyzing enzyme that turns stink bug innards into porridge, which the wheel bug sucks up.

is an award-winning, Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer who contributes to real estate and home improvement sites. In her spare time (yeah, right!), she gardens, manages three dogs, and plots to get her 21-year-old out of her basement.